Terminals which can take on various shapes according to connection requirements are already well known and are including prod, clip-on, ring, spade, and fork type as well as "Faston" (male-female) terminals, etc. These terminals are marked according to various well known marking techniques.
According to currently adopted techniques, one end of the metal components is incorporated by melting into the insulating element of these terminals as described in the French Pat. Nos. 2477305 and 1468859 and in the European Pat. No. 0035460.
These known solutions have two main drawbacks, i.e. the metal element and insulating sleeve are firmly assembled and won't permit rotation of the sleeve after connection, for a better and easier identification of the cables.
The second drawback relates to the fact that the metal component must be secured to the cable lead by using a special crimping tool. Since the insulating part of the envelope is also involved in the crimping procedure, it may be deformed or even become useless, especially if recessed for introduction of sleeve marker rings. To prevent crimping damage, the insulating part is now manufactured in PVC since this material has excellent flexibility and crushing strength. No other plastic materials can be used for this purpose since they cannot withstand crimping stresses.
According to the Italian Pat. No. 12505 A/86, the first drawback was eliminated by rotating the metal component with respect to the insulating sleeve, but the second drawback still remained to be solved.
The European Pat. No. 0117166 is also known, according to which the terminal is obtained from flat die-cut shapes which are progressively bent so as to surround the cable lead. However, this approach has also several disadvantages. In the first place, it prevents the sleeve from being rotated in order to ensure easy reading of the markings. Then, there is the fact that this system requires special tools for deformation of the flat links and for application of the envelope and this equipment must be used on the site where the cables are connected, thus involving discomfort for the operator and loss of time. Furthermore, it seems that this system is only used for prods with the exclusion of all other terminal types.